Jaime Francisco Hernández Martínez took office as general director of the state-owned electric company Tuesday

President Enrique Peña Nieto appointed Jaime Francisco Hernández Martínez as General Director of the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) Tuesday.

In an event at the presidential residence of Los Pinos, the Hernández Martínez was sworn in by Peña Nieto. The president instructed Hernández Martínez to continue the implementation of the energy reform as it relates to the electric sector, and to continue the restructuring of the CFE to make it more competitive.

CFE is a state-owned electricity company that is the largest electricity provider in Mexico.

The president also directed the new head of CFE to expand access to electricity to marginalized communities through the use of new technologies, and to modernize infrastructure to improve the quality of service everywhere.

Before being appointed as general director of CFE, Hernández Martínez was the CFE’s finance director. He has a doctorate in Political Economy from the University of Essex’s department of government in the United Kingdom. He also studied economics at the National Polytechnic Institute in Mexico City, and law at the National Autonomous University of Mexico.

Before working at CFE, Hernández Martínez worked at the Treasury and Public Finance Secretariat (SHCP), the College of the Northern Border and at Mexican development banks.